Machine Learning in tiny embedded devices

 The current trend of machine learning reminds us of heavy computational machinery; thanks to GPUs and TPUs that make these possible. However going ahead in this manner would mean that all the data need to be sourced to the cloud, or one may have to think of carrying the cloud in your pocket. Not a good idea isn't it? And also what bothers is the serious consequence on the environment due to the swarm of computers that does your ML in large datacenters. Of course big does not always mean better.

Let us now look into a smartphone which has a tiny processor almost eight times smaller than a TPU and thousands of times smaller than that football ground (yes! those enormous datacenters). Everyone is concerned about data privacy nowadays- so the question is whether you can bring code closer to the data rather than bringing data close to the code. Of course there are no free lunches, but the best hope is that if numerous devices are equipped for edge ML then the drawbacks of low accuracy diminishes. Imagine this to a noisy protest of thousands of people. Although individual opinions seem to be dumb on the government, the collective cause is certainly effective. Each of these edge devices can collaborate to do what was impossible by any individual.

References:

[1] TinyML Book - O'Reilly, Pete Warden URL:https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/tinyml/9781492052036/

[2] Fundamentals of TinyML - Harvard university course, https://online-learning.harvard.edu/course/fundamentals-tinyml

How to curate home-grown research ideas for achieving 'Make in India' and 'Made in India'?

Self-reliance (atma-nirbhar) has become a buzzword in India very quickly. The idea has propagated to Indian industry and economy like a wild fire. It is indeed our blessing that we were able to do this, at this hour when we are plagued with the pandemic and also some neighboring boundary sharing issues. With the increase in demand for ventilators coupled with import restrictions, we have understood the wealth of intellectual resources available within our country. It has increased home-grown talents and expanded our often criticized out-of-the-box thinking. There was a recent release of several indigenous mobile application that will replace the prevailing apps from elsewhere. Indian dream being a developed nation, will soon be a reality if our farmers, knowledge workers, R & D centers and  academicians can synchronously pursue this vision. Alongside we will require support from global contributors and the Indian diaspora. Soon India will be able to stand in shoulder with several global giants, and also act as a consulting entity for several matters of global importance. Our goal should be to lend our understanding about holistic lifestyle, society oriented leadership, ethical living and transparency. We have shown to the world about the important aspect of technology and its role in empowerment and inclusiveness.

In the following series of points, I would like to outline how India can leverage the current situation to the fully realize its development dream. Our focus as a country should be primarily on agriculture, industry and energy sectors. Agricultural reforms should embrace technology and there should be more youth involved for realizing the new agricultural revolution, with a blend of technology and best practices. Current Indian agricultural sector is filled with several regional and distributional disparities. These disparities can be effectively managed through the use of digital services. In Kerala, we have achieved the feet of digital ration card system (with biometric verification) where the ration is allotted only to the authorized  card holder. Through this we have learnt that technology can play an integral role in ensuring transparency and inclusiveness. In other parts of the country we have seen how farm products are getting sold in the market through e-commerce. The plethora of handicrafts and handloom products available in the popular e-commerce websites is a clear signal on the increasing demand for local products.

The role of the Indian industries to realize the dream of a developed nation is very crucial. For this dream to lift off, innovation is a key player. To ignite the innovation culture in the Indian minds, we need to nurture the seeds of creativity right from grassroot levels. Most Indians consider, it is better to 'settle' in a job, and it is the duty of the Government to supply them with facilities. This risk-averse attitude will not help in the long run. And we can see a glimpse of this change emerging in the context of the youth, where we can see the creative energy budding in the form of startups, MSMEs etc. Increased impetus on hackathons and other events, is truly encouraging the youth to join the force for self reliance. However, it is the duty of every Indian to keep this spirit high, and work hard to realize the dream of developed India. The current pandemic has taught us several lessons, such as the importance of education, the need for innovation in communication technologies, and most importantly to have a moderate lifestyle. While leading the road of development, one should not leave behind the responsibility for sustaining the environment. We should seek help from environmental and social leaders to adopt the best practices while implementing the developmental projects.

Our core strength lies in the youth of this nation, and it is the youth who can lead the change. To build a strong youth force of innovators, our academic system should be equipped to train students in the best possible manner. Education should focus on character building, skill development and bringing the uniqueness in every individual. One should not be drawn towards the hefty salaries alone while choosing the career path. Instead one should invest her/his core competencies and skills in the service of the nation and humanity as a whole. There is a large corpus of knowledge available in our land, and it is our duty to nourish this knowledge by practicing it and using it in the service of the humanity. The future of academic institutions should be placed in the platform of collaborative research. And the higher learning institutions should be given a chance to interact with the government and the industry to realize the dream of developed India. Team work is the buzzword in technology implementation. Our academic centers need to excel in this art of team building, allowing collaborations at every level. For teams allow to constantly ignite the spirit of innovation and also drives away personal ego, that is a huge barrier that deters the progress.

I wish to conclude with the words of Kalam, "We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us".  

Poetry - A trial

A few lines as it came to me;

Everyday is different 

Everyday is for your service

Everyday is for love

Everday is at your lotus feet

I also tuned it into a rhythm,

Vijay A · Poetry - A trial

Research Directions in the Post COVID Era : A Roadmap towards Sustainable Development

The world has been going through really challenging times. And every challenging time has a lesson to teach. We may fall, but we should never fail to wake up. The episode of COVID-19 should be made an opportunity to revive the humane qualities inbuilt in our culture. Yes, I am talking about sustainability. 

I have heard from many sources that sustainable development is just  a book topic as of now. It is hard to practice in real world. Let us do a reality check. In the name of economic development, we have been heavily investing on infrastructure development. From where does the resources for such development come about? We all know that it is none other than from nature.  It is not that we are unaware of these facts, but that have just tuned our attitude towards amassing more and more. Our education system needs to ramp up to achieve behavioral changes that align with the goal of sustaining the nature. Let me now drive you through a set of possible technologies that can be used in a sustainable developmental model.

Internet Services -- infrastructure reduction

The next disruption in technology is going be on the penetration of the Internet. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of companies offer the option of work from home. In education, teaching-learning process now involves online tools. In this information age, it is known that 'data is the new oil'. This is becoming more evident in the present pandemic situation. In the future transport of people is going to reduce tremendously, there will be lesser dedicated office spaces. This will bring down air pollution and cluttered roads may become a thing of the past. Telemedicine will become a prominent technology, enabling health access in remote villages through healthcare ATMs. This challenging times can become a boon for the power sector by expanding its reach for renewable.

Technology driven Agriculture -- sustainable living

Another interesting area of technology driven innovation is in agriculture. For a country to prosper its farmers need to be adequately supported. IoT technology can be used to conserve water and satellite based imagery can be adopted to identify suitable land. Smart agriculture can be employed to  reduce the time to market and can ensure best price to the farmers. Terrace farming opens wide possibilities in the urban sector. Office backyards, mostly public sector ones, are being utilized for growing vegetables. The Cochin airport claims to have grown sufficient vegetables for its employees using the recycled water used for cleaning the solar panels. A major lesson that the COVID pandemic teaches is the need to develop healthy and sustainable food habits. Vegetarianism can be practiced and followed, and thereby decreasing the violence on animals. Scientific evidence suggests that around 40% of global emissions can be reduced by shifting towards sustainable vegetarian diet. In addition to this,  healthy food habits can enable one to develop higher taste and ethical behavior. 

Soft Skill Development -- cognitive and behavioral skill 

The COVID crisis is also helping us imbibe several soft skills. There are encouraging signs to provide holistic education, that caters to developing inter-personal skills and personality development. Humanitarian thinking and inculcating eternal values should also be incorporated. This is also the time for inculcating the habit of acquiring spiritual sciences, which is otherwise mostly neglected. Social decision making has more than ever been a useful consideration in this difficult time. People, in general have attempted to obey government notifications. Another positive effect of the pandemic was on the increased enrollments for music, dance and cultural activities - which were made possible due to video conferencing and social media.

On a positive note ...

The challenges due to the pandemic has set forth time to think and reflect on several aspects of human decision making. It has provided a new direction to correct some our attitudes, and also helped us to think in a humble spirit. Let these lessons be implemented in the coming days, so that we can sustain our planet and hand over a better Earth to the generations to arrive.

Building a Culture in Research

This article stems from various aspects of research that has caught my attention, while being a graduate student at IIT Bombay. Although, India is a country with diverse culture and ancient history (dating back to vedic era), its involvement in research is still in the nascent stages. In recent years, there has been a series of strong reforms in the direction of lifting India's research output.  The manifold increase in the budgetary allocation for science and technology is a fitting example to this fact. However, scientific research cannot be progressive unless a research culture is introduced.

The Oxford  Learner's  dictionary defines the word culture as the beliefs and attitudes about something that people in a particular group or organization share. In a scientific context, research culture would mean a value system that is shared by the research community. It is a scenario where individuals work single-minded towards achieving a collective goal. ISRO's Mangalyan mission is an excellent instance where this has been demonstrated.The emphasis here was on collaborative exploration by setting aside social, regional  and language differences. No scientific advancement is possible without a sense of collective commitment and responsibility. Each scientist in that sense is accountable for the millions of taxpayers, to whom her/his services are to be delivered.

The culture of research is supported on three pillars - viz. academic institutions, industry and government agencies. Academic institutions have a major role in fostering scientific temperament through active engagement of its student community - UG, PG and PhD. Faculty members should facilitate exchange of ideas within the hierarchy of students as well as across departments. The academic environment needs to be shaped such that it encourages risk taking, allows experimentation, and accommodates failures. For instance, there can be provisions where the student is free to start a venture after completing a minimum number of credit.

Innovation is a constant companion to research. Especially this is very much true in engineering. Being an applied science, engineers try to find solutions to various problems that is of concern to the world around. In present times, it is further possible to convert the innovation to a venture and collaborate with other innovators in the area. A simple scheme to instil an innovation mindset is to encourage open discussions and pitching avenues. Apart from core subjects, engineers need to develop an open mindset to other subjects. Soft skills will be key for building successful research collaborations in the future. These include inter-personal skills as well as self management principles.

The foundations of research culture should be laid on integrity as well as social-responsibility. Ethics and values are pivotal to inculcate a holistic education, and this is more so important in research. In fact, the current educational culture of just accumulating information, needs to change.